


The Duchess' Mandalorian

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Series: Two Jedi Walk Into A Mandalorian [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Obi-Wan Kenobi, Female Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mandalorian Culture, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21685531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: What Rex didn't realize when he held Obi-Wan close after her Force vision was that the Satine she mentioned wasthe Duchess of Mandalore.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & CT-7567 | Rex, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Satine Kryze, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze
Series: Two Jedi Walk Into A Mandalorian [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553227
Comments: 38
Kudos: 539





	The Duchess' Mandalorian

**Author's Note:**

> Two updates in two days. What's happening?

Obi-Wan had an air about her from the moment she showed up that she was invincible. 

The full-body covering of her armour, the confident way she handled her fists and her guns, the easy way she smirked, the friendly way she would sling arms around brothers' shoulders, the casual lean against the bulkhead when she was just watching the ship function, the unspoken camaraderie of taking a swing from an open whiskey bottle and wordlessly passing it to the man next to her all lead to this impression that she always knew who she was in any situation, the way she should be whenever anything happened and the course of action she should pursue in any emergency. Her agency and sense of self were infectious, and the brothers she would call her friends walked with their heads held higher. She oozed command and respect, both in the giving and the receiving, and moved like the world would part around her if it was in her way. She was inspiring, and she never meant to be, which made her all the more amazing. 

The episode on Liek, with her Force dream and violent reaction, brought her back down to earth. She walked on sand like the rest of them, haunted by a past they didn't know, couldn't hope to understand. She had lived thirty years independent of this war, of this realm of battlefields, and it was clear from her scars that it hadn't all been pleasant. As much as the evils of this war haunted the vode, they all knew that there were worse fates out there, and Rex himself had a sneaking suspicion that she had been under the yoke of one of those evils. The silver studs that sometimes peeked out of the fringes of her sleeveless training shirts, lodged well and good into her shoulder blades, were enough of a testament to that. All of her inhuman, invulnerable qualities melted away as she curled up in Rex's arms, hating a part of herself that she had no control over. 

After that incident, she became a brother. 

It wasn't that they hadn't trusted her before, otherwise they wouldn't have followed her so explicitly, but that she seemed . . . separate from them. Purer. She was a true Mando, a warrior and a native to the planet itself, and the clones were somehow less than, derivative. But there, defensive and scrambling to cover her exposed nerves, she had become what all of them were - people inside armour, struggling against a world that didn't care whether they lived or died. For all her colour and individuality among them, the way the experience of her life shaped her so differently, she was just like them underneath. She _was_ them underneath - a soldier, a warrior, a victor, a brother, a casualty, a victim. 

And yet, every time the whistle blew, she was the first to armour up, to run out the doors, to face the blaster fire. Because she was a brother. And brothers protect brothers.

* * *

"What's the new orders?" She asked, strolling casually onto the bridge and dropping down into one of the chairs. 

Jinn raised an eyebrow at her. "Hungover?"

"Sore." She winked and Skywalker snorted. Tano flushed and looked away.

"Is that so?" Jinn's eyes flickered over to Rex, who was standing stiff under the scrutiny. "Shall I take a guess?"

"If your guess was _sparring_ , then you'd be correct." She reached over and poked the Jedi in the side. "You'll see Hardcase walking funny too."

Skywalker almost spit his caf. "What, are you working your way through all of Torrent Company?"

Tano punched him. "Master! Have some tact!"

"Oh, Anakin." She leaned over the holotable, a wicked gleam in her eye. "Let's not discuss details of our sexual histories where they'd be incriminating, hmm? That would be in poor taste, if nothing else."

Skywalker cleared his throat. "I think you're very right, Obi-Wan."

Jinn raised an eyebrow, but wisely said nothing and began the briefing as through the whole thing never happened. Rex and Cody shared a look over Obi-Wan's head, exasperated. 

"The Council of Neutral Systems has reached out to the Jedi with a concern for the safety of their Council's leader." Jinn stated. "They believe a terrorist group has designs on her life."

"Her, sir?" Cody asked. 

Jinn brought up a holo of a woman in elaborate political finery, standing tall and uncompromising. "The reigning Duchess of Mandalore, head of the CNS, Satine Kryze."

"Satine?" Rex said without thinking.

Jinn glanced at him. "Yes, Satine Kryze. According to the request, a terrorist cell calling themselves Death Watch are made up of radical traditional Mandalorians who are acting violently against the pacifist policy of the government."

"So what are we going to do?" Tano cocked her head, studying the projected woman.

"The Duchess is to make the journey to Coruscant to make the case that Death Watch does not represent the opinions and stances of Mandalore, and that retribution for their actions should not reflect on Mandalore and its people. The Council members are convinced that it is during this journey, where she is away from the public eye and the protection of her palace and loyal guards, they will attempt her assassination, and the erasure of her supporters."

"That's horrible." Tano shook her head. 

"Indeed. False rumours about her building a private army are what I have I recently returned from investigating." Jinn nodded. "The fact that these attacks have only escalated leads me to believe that Death Watch is allied with the Separatists."

"Well, good luck with that." Obi-Wan stood and walked directly out of the room. They all stood in stunned silence for a moment, watching her go. 

"What was that about?" Skywalker frowned. 

"I would have figured she'd want to go home for a while." Tano stared after her in concern. 

"Apparently not." Skywalker shrugged. 

"I'll have a discussion with her, see if I can't change her mind." Jinn said. 

Rex and Cody looked at each other again, but this time neither of them were quite so sure. 

"Regardless men, shape up. We deploy soon. Only a small contingent." Skywalker ordered and they disbanded. 

| | | 

Obi-Wan was nowhere to be found on the cruiser when Rex called for volunteers, nor were they able to find her at all before deployment. 

Rex didn't feel comfortable leaving her behind, but they had a job to do. It could be forgiven that he didn't notice an extra trooper in his retinue, nor notice the disappearance of such a tag-along. Two of his men disappeared in the cargo holds, the assassin droids attacked and all thoughts of the stowaway disappeared from his mind. 

| | | 

Rex had accompanied Skywalker when he caught the remaining spider assassin droid, and stood behind the Duchess as Skywalker did his walkabouts with it. They were supposed to be the only two armed in the room, but a second body of white armour seemed to materialize from the midst when Skywalker got around to Senator Marick. 

Naturally, the Senator slapped the plate from Skywalker's smug hands, setting the little thing free. It landed on the table and immediately began scuttling toward the Duchess. Skywalker drew his 'saber, but he was too slow. The little machine launched itself at her before anyone could do much of anything. 

Except the shiny that Rex had ignored. The shiny caught its body in his hand, then slammed it on the table with a sickening crunch. Marick made a dash for the door, but the shiny flipped over onto the table and threw a knife at him, lodging it in his shoulder, then took off after him, sliding off the table onto his feet and out the door. 

"What the hell?" Skywalker managed. "Who was that?"

"Looked like Amast's armour, but I didn't bring him on this mission." Rex replied, helping the Duchess to her feet from where her chair had tripped her. 

"Take care of the Senators, I'm going to go help Amast."

There was a hard _clang_ from outside the door before they opened again and Amast and Marick stumbled back in, grappling with each other. Marick had managed to get an arm under the helmet, cutting off air the locking mechanism pressed against Amast's throat. The clone pushed off the door jamb, slamming the knife in the Senator's shoulder deeper in with an agonized yell, then used the split second to reach up and unlatch the helmet. 

A mess of short, tangled red hair spilled out from the helmet, the white plastoid rolling away down the hall. 

"Obi-Wan?" Skywalker muttered in unconscious confusion. 

She snarled, one hand finding Marick's throat through the bundles of cloth around his neck and the other balling into a fist, smashing his head off the door jamb with every punch. 

The Duchess seemed to regain her wits the quickest. "Enough!"

With one final, violent punch, Obi-Wan threw the man back into the room, hitting the table and sliding to the floor ungracefully. Her hair was wild, cut short enough to fit under the tight helmet, and her lips were pulled back in a vicious snarl. She spit on the unconscious Senator, wiping the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. 

"Have some respect." The Duchess snapped, apparently on instinct, though she didn't seem like the type of woman to Rex who would take things back. 

Obi-Wan looked up at her with white-hot resentment. "Don't pull your bullshit with me, Satine. I warned you, all the way back then. _I warned you._ "

Satine stood straighter, not backing down. 

"It was Vizsla, right? Vizsla's their leader." She threw her head back with a bitter, cruel laugh. "I told you he was forming Death Watch when those blasted councillors of yours were pushing you to marry him! He was biding his time to take over the planet, to invade it because you have no forces, no protection."

"I will die for my ideals." Satine raised her chin. "Do not demean me simply because you have no such faith."

"No, what you'll do is let others you're not _responsible for_ die in your place." She snapped back. "Isn't that what all the clone bodies in your ship's hold tells you? All the clone corpses piled around your system that act as a barrier so you don't have to get your hands dirty?"

"I never asked to be involved in this war, and neither have my systems!"

"You can't maintain peace if there's someone who wants _to kill you_ , Satine! _Eugh!_ " She tore at her own hair. "It's like you don't get it on purpose! You're not a pacifist - whatever the hell that's supposed to mean - you're a bystander! You sit on the sidelines, ranting in disgust about all the people dying to keep you safe, and pretending that if death came for you, you'd still sit idly by and take it! You're a liar! You're a collection of half-truths and hyperbole wrapped in silk and arrogance, too intentionally ignorant to realize there's a difference between starting a war and rising up to end one!"

"How dare you?!" Satine hissed in response. "I'm a leader looking to defend my people and the people who have put their faith in me."

"From what?" Obi-Wan slammed her hand down on the table, making even Skywalker jump. "From the body looking to defend you from invaders? The invaders themselves? Both? You can't be passive when someone breaks into your home with the intent to enslave or kill you!"

"The war should have never started in the first place!"

"But _it did_." Obi-Wan looked like she was going to strangle Satine. " _This_ is your reality, and you can't pretend it isn't happening just because you don't want it to or don't agree with it. It's not a question of whether it should or shouldn't have started, it's a question about what you're going to do about it _now_. And you know damn well laying down placidly to die _isn't_ the answer."

"I don't take marching orders from a _bounty hunter_." Satine turned away from her.

"You didn't have a problem with it thirteen years ago, when this Council hired me to save you from your enemies, or the two years I stood at your side after that." Obi-Wan stood straight, daring her to argue. "But then, you are a liar."

"I am no such thing!" Satine spun back around, freshly outraged. 

"Oh yes, because I would have left Mandalore entirely on my own, were that the case." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You banished me because I challenged the bubble you live inside."

"You're a bandit, a murderer and a thug. That you might have ever been more to anyone else is nothing more than a mistake on their part."

"I always knew I was part of reality that you couldn't accept. I just didn't realize that it didn't just apply to me." She reached to her side and tossed her sidearm - a clone pistol - across the table. "If I were you, I'd save yourself a few hundred hours of suffering and excuse yourself from the war now. Advise all the worlds under your protection to do the same should the clone body shield fail you."

Satine gawked at her as she turned and walked away, only reaching down to grab the discarded helmet across the threshold. 

| | | 

Rex found Obi-Wan in the lounge level of the ship, staring off into nothing. 

"Are you alright?" He asked, sitting down next to her. 

"No, not really." She admitted. "I don't know what I was expecting from her, but it shouldn't have been more than that." She frowned deeper, looking away. "I should have known better."

"Was it any better than that when you parted?"

"This was worse." She sighed, shifting to rest her head on his shoulder. "But then, this whole situation is worse than it was then."

He reached over and took her hand, the one she'd used to knock the lights out of Marick. "You're not alone now, Ob'ika."

She smiled, squeezing his fingers. "Yes, I suppose I'm not."

The ship rocked with an impact, and they jumped to their feet as the warning lights for a hull breach went off. 

A string of vibrant Mando'a cusses tore out of Obi. "His allies! He would have allies on the ship!"

They both took off running toward the report of the breaches, intercepting clones and Mandalorian guardsmen fending off droids. 

"Obi!" Some of the 501st called out, surprised to see her streak past them, sans-bucket. 

"Cover her!" Rex ordered. 

"Isn't that Amast's armour?" Redeye asked, laying out cover fire. 

"He's probably sleeping on the cruiser." Rex shook his head. "Should have known."

Obi-Wan, for her part, didn't waste any time. From a gap under the breast plate that the male clones would normally fill out, she withdrew the Darksaber, cutting her way through the battle droids with an ease only adrenaline-fuelled fear can produce. 

Rex followed hot on her heels, chasing her down the hallways as she cut through the deployments, finding Jinn and Skywalker facing down Marick holding Satine captive and two of her guards alongside him. Neither Jedi was willing to make a move and endanger her life, nor cause him to toggle the switch he was holding. 

Obi-Wan didn't care. She took a running leap and cut off Marick's arm, following the strike through to stab the far guard in the chest. Rex shot down the other man. Marick cried out in agony, but that only drew Obi-Wan's attention once more. 

"You! You took it!" 

She scowled, a frightening, deadly thing. "You should have stayed down." Then she shoved it through his chest as well. 

"How did you know he was going to blow up the ship?" Satine asked, voice small. 

"What else would the button do? Confetti?" She deactivated the Darksaber and turned away. 

"Obi-Wan."

She nodded stiffly and formally. "I was pleased to be of service, your Grace. I shall see myself out."

Satine's face was full of regret and unsaid words, but she turned to General Jinn and allowed herself to be led away. 

Skywalker mouthed _Keep an eye on her for me_ and joined his former Master. 

He followed Obi-Wan, sitting down beside her again when she leaned against a wall and slid down it. "Was this in your dream?"

"Not the yelling, but yes." She leaned on him again, sighing in exhaustion that sounded purely emotional. "I'm glad you're here."

"As long as I can be, Ob'ika."

She took his hand this time, and the two of them stayed like that until Cody came for them.

* * *

Obi-Wan didn't say goodbye to Satine, or even acknowledge her. She marched off in full armour with the clones, vanishing among their indivisible mass. Satine looked for her, though, and it made Rex feel sorry for her. Their relationship seemed to have a lasting effect on them both, and it seemed that Satine knew she was in the wrong. 

Rex had a feeling this wasn't the first time Obi-Wan had been told she wasn't wanted and hadn't looked back when she left Satine behind. 


End file.
